Third time's the charm
by LadyNightRunner
Summary: She didn't expect the picture to wink at her. Heck, she wasn't expecting ANYTHING. Now, though, she has to learn to cope in a new place with a voice in her head, another in her heart, and a dangerous entity that wants her dead. Better duck, Reno!


Yeah, I know. This one has been in the works for quite awhile, and it kinda has senority. Anywho, I know Tisha is a wierd character. Call her a Mary-Sue if you wish. I will politely ask you to buzz off. If you can tell me where her name came from, I will applaud. If you give me pointless flames, I'll sic Omicron on you...but more on that later. Enjoy it! And remember...critics are welcome, as long as you're a good sport about it!

* * *

"I wish something would _happen_ this summer," she sighed. Everyone else was off doing something; traveling, working, spending time with relatives…leaving her to lie at home and await her first year of college.

"I'm sure you'll find something," her mother had said, when confronted with the problem of a long, empty summer with nothing to do. Of course, Mom was off on a road trip with friends for the next couple of weeks, and her bratty sister was in London with her stepmother.

Her sketchbook lay on the bed beside her, kept company by a pencil. Lazily, she picked it up and drew randomly, allowing the pencil to wander over the paper. Just another pointless doodle; her inspiration had gone to the dogs this summer.

When she bothered to give the page a critical glance, she was surprised to see a face there, half hidden among poor attempts at various animals. It was a slim, angular face, very proud, with long bangs that framed it neatly. The mouth was fixed in a secret smile, as if he knew something she didn't. The whole thing was vaguely feline, and quite attractive, in an ethereal, almost inhuman way. His eyes interested her; they were narrow and intelligent, with slitted pupils.

"Quite a looker, aren't you?" she asked it. Maybe that was why he looked so smug. The page shivered. Confused, she checked the window. It was closed, and there wasn't even the slightest breeze outside. It must have been her imagination. "You want to be colored, don't you?"

Laughing at herself, she put the pencil into her backpack, the one that had become a depository for random belongings after the road trip it was intended for had been abandoned. Her colored pencils and markers were in it…somewhere. Picking the backpack up, she grabbed the sketchpad and headed for the stairs. The page shivered again. When she looked at it, the paper rippled, and a wash of color ran over the face.

Again, his eyes were striking; they were an eerie blue-green color. Then one winked. The floor dropped away from her feet and darkness blinded her.

/Elsewhere/ Cloud was dreaming. It was a familiar dream, in a familiar grassy, flower-filled field. And Aerith was there, standing back-to-back with him, like always.

"Back again?" she teased.

"Yeah."

"That's good. I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"Something's coming," she said softly.

"Coming? Is it dangerous?"

"I don't know. I've never felt anything like it before. Be careful, okay?"

"Aren't I always?" he laughed. Aerith shook her head.

"Get going," she said, turning around a pushing him. "You alarm is about to go off."

Sure enough, the ear piercing keening of his alarm clock drowned Cloud's response. He groaned and rolled over, fumbling for the snooze button.

"Cloud! I heard that, and I know you're awake! Get down here!" Tifa called. Cloud said a couple of words he'd promised to avoid when there were children in the house and pulled his pillow over his head. He was _not_ getting up. "Cloud?" Tifa was at the door.

"Mmnn. G'way," he mumbled. Tifa sighed heavily and opened the door. She stopped beside the bed, eyeing Cloud, who was sprawled over as much space as possible in just his boxers. They had tiny chocobo prints on them.

"Come on, get up," she urged, shaking his shoulder. "Do you have any idea how late it is? I've let you sleep this long, and even reset your alarm. It's time to get up."

"Tiiiiifaaaa…sleeeeeeep," Cloud moaned. Then he went silent. A surge of…something, sort of like a shockwave but not, washed over him. It felt strange, and gave him goose bumps. "Did…did you feel that?" he asked.

"Feel what?"

"Nothing. Never mind- I'm up." Cloud rolled out of bed, and Tifa left. He stared out the window as he dressed, wondering if the feeling had something to do with Aerith's warning. He hoped it didn't; the 'wave' had felt disturbingly like Sephiroth.

/ShinRa building/ If there was something Reno disliked to the point of loathing it, it was running errands. Especially errands that didn't even take him outside the building. Like today. He'd arrived at work to find a list of things for him to do; a list that included making copies, making coffee, and essentially running around. Making _coffee_ for heaven's sakes! It wasn't _his _fault that the coffee maker in the Turk's office had been put out of commission. Rude had been the one chasing him around the office. _Rude_ was the one who'd tried to hit him with an electro-mag rod. It was Rude's poor aim that had killed an innocent coffee maker instead of knocking him into next week. But was Rude ferrying coffee from two floors up, so that it was available when Tseng came back long enough to refill his travel mug before leaving again? _No_. Rude was off on vacation.

That was what Reno was doing now, carrying a full pot of fresh coffee to the carafe downstairs. Abruptly, he heard a weird buzzing sound. It got louder, and the air rippled and bulged, as if something was trying to get out of it. Frantic, Reno fumbled for a weapon, pulled out his mag-rod…and then the air above him _tore_ open and a flailing shape fell out of it. The hole closed and vanished.

Reno instinctively dove to catch who-or what- ever had fallen from the…what _was_ it, anyway? He succeeded, but lost his balance while trying to hold a pot of coffee, his mag-rod, and a struggling person. He hit the floor hard, accompanied by the wet, sloshing crash when the coffeepot hit the floor and broke, spraying him with hot coffee and shards of glass.

"Oww…what jus- Ohmigod, are you okay?" Reno was trying unsuccessfully to pull shards of glass from his skin with fingers wet and slippery with coffee. When she, for the stranger certainly _sounded_ female, spoke, he paused and looked up. The girls sprawled on the floor where he'd managed to throw her couldn't have been older than he was. She had a low, messy ponytail of waist-length black hair and greenish-gold eyes, and was wearing a pair of black cargo pants and a tight white T-shirt with 'it must've been my evil twin' written on it in red. She had a slight tan, and the overall effect was very attractive. Reno probably would have been more appreciative if he hadn't been burned and bleeding.

"I'll be fine," he lied. He rolled onto his side (the one that _hadn't_ been hit with a mag-rod on the way down) and winced when more glass stabbed him.

"Not if you keep moving, you won't," she pointed out. "Hold still." She got to her feet and approached. She was a little on the tall side, five foot ten or so, and graceful in her movements. Glass crunched under her tennis shoes. "I'm Tisha. Or Tish, if you prefer."

"Reno. Is Tisha short for something?"

"Morticia, which I hate. Can you get up?" Reno nodded and did. Movement alerted him to more minor injuries, and a little whimper slipped past his lips. When he was standing, Tisha pulled him away from the wreckage of the coffeepot. "Reno, can you tell me where I am?"

"The ShinRa building. Why? Ah! Be _gentle_!" Tisha carefully unbuttoned Reno's shirt and peeled it off, being sure to avoid touching the as many of the cuts and bruises as she could. This was quite a feat, seeing as they were liberally scattered liberally over his chest and arms.

"Midgar? ShinRa? What's a ShinRa?"

"He's a person. Hey! What do you think you're _doing_!?" She'd dropped into a crouch, and was slowly running her hands over his legs. He was getting dangerously high, and he nearly jumped out of the way before she shifted around behind him and started on the backs of his legs. Starting at his belt.

"Making sure all the glass fell off. You don't want to sit on it, trust me. Ow! See, here's a bit." She yanked her hand away and put her thumb in her mouth. "Sorry about falling on you."

"No problem. _Ow_. Bt…where did you fall _from_, exactly, and why don't you seem particularly concerned? Is this normal for you?" Reno asked. Tisha smiled slightly and shrugged, then picked up the backpack that lay where she'd landed.

"I fell from the upstairs hallway in my house. It's not normal by a long shot, but I _was_ lying on my bed wishing something would happen. Something did, so I suppose I'll make the best of it. And at least you _seem_ to be human."

"What else would I be?"

"I have no idea, and no desire to find out. Is there somewhere we can go where I can take care of those burns?"

"Y'don't have to…"Reno began, but Tisha shook her head.

"It's my fault you got hurt, and I intend to do what I can to fix it." Reno wondered how falling out of nowhere could be _anybody's_ fault, and decided no to think about it.

"There's a sink and a first-aid kit in our office downstairs. It's this way." Reno led the way, and Tisha followed.

Thankfully, there was no one in the office when they got there. A note on Reno's desk told him to stay out of trouble, and meant that Tseng had somehow managed to get I and out without hearing Tisha's arrival and the coffee pot falling. Reno flopped into his chair and watched Tisha. She was filling Rude's coffee mug with water, and had the bulky first-aid kit tucked under one arm. Oddly enough, she seemed quite comfortable in her new surroundings.

"Okay. Sit up, please." Reno obeyed, then flinched away when the wet washcloth in her hand made contact with his skin. It was cold, and it _hurt_! "Sorry, sorry. Hold still." With much coaxing, Tisha managed to clean the majority of the coffee and dried blood off Reno.

Tseng walked in while Tisha was applying burn cream to Reno's stomach. Reno squeaked I surprise and attempted to get up; Tisha pushed him back down, wiped a bit of burn cream off her nose, and returned to her present occupation.

"What happened to staying out of trouble?" Tseng asked.

"This occurred before I read your message," Reno mumbled, embarrassed.

"What, exactly, did you do _this_ time?"

"Dropped the coffeepot."

"Did you now?" Reno nodded. "I see. And who is this?"

"Morticia. She's-" Tisha cut him off, pushed him back into the chair again, and extended a hand to Tseng.

"I'm his girlfriend," she said. "Tisha."

"Tseng," he murmured, shaking the offered hand. Reno gaped. "Did he actually drop the coffee, or his he covering up for something else?"

"He really dropped it. I'm afraid I startled him, and this is the result."

"Uh-_huh_. And are you new in the city?"

"I am."

"And how did you get into the building?"

"With Reno," Tisha answered. Tseng raised one eyebrow, and suddenly he was all business.

"Reno, you know better than to bring unregistered visitors. Miss Morticia, in the future, please refrain from wandering the halls without an escort."

"Of course." Tisha turned back to Reno and resumed work. Reno stared at her. He _wasn't_ in trouble, _wasn't_ being yelled at, and suddenly had a girlfriend.

"Reno?"

"Sir?"

"When Miss Morticia is finished with you, why don't you take her on a tour?"

"A tour?"

"Yes. Show her around." Reno realized that this was Tseng-speak for 'get out of here before I throw you out the window' and nodded.

"Um…sure. Ow."

Ten minutes later, Reno and Tisha had been all but shoved out into the hall, and Reno was ranting.

"My _girlfriend_? You told Tseng that you're my _girlfriend_! What if he hadn't believed you?"

"Then I would've proved it."

"_How_!?" Reno squawked, blushing. Tisha grinned.

"I'd have gotten…creative," she murmured. "I'm pretty good at improvising." Reno went from pink to very red, and Tisha started laughing.

/Turk's Office/ Tseng leaned back in his chair, stretching, glad to have a few minutes to relax. Then the cell phone he'd left on the desk rang.

"Hello?"

"Are you back in the building, Tseng?" The Turk straightened unconsciously.

"Yes sir."

"Have you seen Reno?"

"I have. He's giving his latest girlfriend a tour of the building."

"His girlfriend? Was she young, with long black hair and golden eyes?"

"Er…yes, she was." Tseng was confused now. Reno had a new girlfriend every few weeks. Why was the president so interested in this one?

"Tseng, I want that girl captured and separated from Reno immediately."

"Sir?"

"She dropped out of nowhere, and I _mean_ nowhere. Empty air, Tseng. Until I know what she is and where she came from, she has to be kept isolated."

"Where should I-"

"Did you touch her?"

"We shook hands, sir, but where-:

"Take her down to the contained living quarters in Lab 5. And make sure Reno gates a de-con shower."

"A _shower_, sir?" Tseng asked. "I don't understand what all the fuss is about. She's just a girl."

"You don't know that. What if she isn't, and is carrying some off-world disease? I will not have another disaster like the geostigma." Ah, that was it. Being a survivor of the geostigma had made Rufus ShinRa paranoid. He didn't want to be even possibly responsible for another epidemic.

"Of course, sir. I'll get on it right away."

"Good. I suggest you join Reno afterwards."

"Join him, sir?"

"In the shower. I doubt she'll go quietly, and you've already touched her. I don't want anything to happen that might compromise your health." Tseng balked. _Shower_ with _Reno_?

"Of course, sir."

"One more thing, Tseng. Does she have a name?"

"Morticia."

"Thank you. Now go." Rufus hung up, and Tseng sighed. Now he had to track the pair down, get Morticia down into the lab, and shower with Reno. Yay. Life really sucked sometimes.

Reno and Morticia were on the floor below the Research Department when Tseng found them.

"Reno!" he called. The pair stopped and turned to see who was calling.

"Did I forget something?" Reno asked.

"No. I need you to go down to the locker room and _stay_ there. Miss Morticia, please some with me." Tisha looked confused for a minute, then shrugged and accepted Tseng's arm. Reno went, wondering what was going on.

/Twenty minutes later/ Tseng entered the locker room to find Reno lying on his back on a bench, humming aimlessly.

"Get up, Reno."

"Why?"

"We have to shower."

"_Shower_? With _you_? What for?"

"President's orders."

"So Shinra wants to improve employee relations? Great," Reno grumbled, unbuttoning the shirt he'd gotten from the office and pulling it off.

"De-con showers are easier with two people," Tseng muttered. He grabbed Reno by the ponytail and towed him over to a door that was rarely opened. The sign on it read 'Decontamination Only'.

"_De-con_? Why?" Reno yelped, trying to pull away.

"Miss Morticia landed on you, and I had to carry her into Lab 5."

"So? What's wrong with touching a girl? The pres' is a bit old to be believing in cooties."

"Reno he claims her saw her fall out of thin air, and you caught her. I don't really care if it's true or not, but the president believes she may be carrying some sort of virus. That being the case, she is to be kept isolated and we have to go through de-con. Now, come on. I want to get this over with." Reno nodded and followed, wondering if Tisha would be okay.

De-con showers were unpleasant. They always had been, and probably would remain that way forever. The unfortunate Turks were required to strip; all clothing and belongings were put in another room to go through their own decontamination. Then they paused in the outer entry to the showers and waited. A deluge of blue liquid fell on them. Dripping wet and sputtering, the waited the required two minutes, then passed through the curtain of cold water that formed the inner entry.

The actual showers were relatively normal, expect for the soap. The water was almost too hot to bear, so both were, as always, thankful for the inner entry. Both lathered up with black soap that smelled horrible and burned like hell. Protocol dictated that _every_ inch of skin be scrubbed, a fact Tseng had to point out to Reno. The redhead informed his superior that there was _no_ way he'd use the soap on anything really important. Tseng threatened to pin Reno to the wall and do it himself, and Reno scrubbed as ordered.

In between soap and shampoo, they had to rinse off. The heat and intensity of the spray meant that there was no dignified way to go about it. Both of them danced in and out of the water, trying to rinse off with a minimum of actual contact with the water. They turned an interesting of red, and Reno yelled and swore at the abuse his injuries were receiving.

The shampoo was green, with pale flecks of an unidentified substance floating in it. Whatever it was, Tseng was allergic to it. He would be sneezing for the rest of the shower, just like always. The stuff had an overpowering acid, chemical smell, and burned just as much as the soap.

A second rinse, and they headed for the first of two baths. It was crystal clear, and scentless. A quick plunge was all that was needed, which was a relief, since the stuff had an unpleasantly waxy texture. At least it obliterated the smell of the soap and shampoo.

The second bath was hot and sticky. It smelt vaguely like burnt rubber, and was a disturbing shade of red. They had to stay in it for five minutes. It was Tseng's turn to complain, as the stuff made his hair form sticky reddish slumps.

Both were grateful when the timer sounded and they could scramble out of the bath. They were _almost_ eager to stand in the stinging spray of the showers again.

Finally, they approached the inner doorway that led to freedom. It was curtained with liquid like the entrance, but this wasn't water. It was pale green and hot, a barrier of some diluted acid that both Reno and Tseng had to pass through. They had to stand under it for a moment, and emerged on the other side hot and greenish, because the acid had some kind of natural dye in it.

Before they could escape the de-con room, however, there was one more indignity to suffer through. They stopped in the outer exit, braced their feet against the floor as best as they could, hung onto each other's shoulders, and held their breath. Momentarily, a drenching similar to the first hit them. This one consisted of nothing more than icy cold water. Shivering and a more-or-less normal color again, they scrambled for the towels in the corner.

"I swear that stuff's gotten stronger since last time," Reno groused.

"I agree," Tseng murmured. He paused, listening, then sighed. "My phone's ringing."

"What?"

"It's still in there," Tseng nodded towards the room they'd left their things in. "Since it's probably the president, I'm going to have to run up there in that ridiculous robe."

The robe he was referring to was one of those kept for ShinRa employees who, like the Turks, kept a spare change of clothes in their office instead of in the locker rooms. For those like the Turks, who worked in the upper levels of the building and didn't have unlimited access to the executive elevator, it also meant a mad dash upstairs. Not only was it a workout like no other, it was an exercise in stealth. The robes had minds of their own, and like to flap open at the worst times.

Tseng pulled on one of the robes, tying the sash in a knot he hoped would hold, then did the same for Reno, whose knot-tying skills were mediocre, at best.

"Ready?" Reno asked. Tseng gave him a wry smile.

"No. Shall we?"

"After you."

The locker room door slammed open, and two Turk shaped blurs shot for the stairs.


End file.
